


Breaking Into a Cold Sweat

by 305unreal



Series: Breaking In [2]
Category: Recess (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anxiety, Bullying, Depression, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Mental Health Issues, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23519059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/305unreal/pseuds/305unreal
Summary: The Ashleys dissolve. Randall and Menlo have a difficult time navigating the new school. TJ isn't even TJ anymore. How is anyone supposed to survive high school?
Relationships: Ashley Armbruster/King Bob, Ashley Quinlan/Erwin Lawson, Ashley Tomassian/Digger Dave, Randall Weems & Menlow, Swinger Girl & Upside-Down Girl (Recess)
Series: Breaking In [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690135
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Breaking Into a Cold Sweat

Middle school passes by in a flash, but nothing has changed by means of the former six friendship. The teenagers, however, have changed a lot. The red-hatted boy stares at his reflection in the mirror. He’s wearing a trashy Steel Panther shirt and old jeans. He readjusts his bangs and cap, so his parents won’t notice the bags under his eyes. He’s scared. He’s scared of what the others must think of him. He’s scared of his responsibilities. He’s scared to go to high school.

“Jasper, breakfast is getting cold!”

He glances down the hall, as though he can see his mom calling for him. Initials stopped after elementary school. He regrets everything that happened in that last year. He lost all his closest friends and only remotely regained one. Jasper walks down the stairs and into the kitchen. Pancakes for the first day of school. It’s tradition. His dad is sitting at the table, reading the paper, and his mom is pouring a coffee for herself.

**|To: Jasper**

**|From: Vince**

Have you thought about the highway?

Since quitting his servant job, Vince has grown more concerned about the environment. It was a stroke of luck that he overheard the Ashleys and Hustler Kid talking about an ecology film. He’s rented it after school and watched it several times. He’s now a walking encyclopedia of all things environmentally sound. He rides his bike to school, wears recycled clothes, and eats homegrown food. Jasper looks at the text again. Vince is trying to convince him to clean the highway with him over the weekend.

**|To: Vince**

**|From: Jasper**

I guess so, Vince.

He’s afraid that if he sidesteps it, he’ll lose his friend again. He only just got him back last year after a fiasco. Vince rallied a lot of their class to join him in a peaceful protest that quickly turned into a drunken rally. Within the rally, two eighth graders lost their virginity to one another. Vince was mortified and, acting on autopilot, he texted his friend group. Gretchen and Gus hadn’t stayed in touch after they moved, and they likely didn’t have the same numbers anymore.

Spinelli and Mikey stayed out of touch by choice. Despite him texting at one in the morning, Jasper was out his window and riding his bike to pick up his former best friend. Vince hadn’t known it then, but his drunken mishap resulted in Ashley Q becoming pregnant.

**|To: Jasper**

**|From: Vince**

Tender

Jasper thanks his mom after pushing his food around and taking a couple bites. As he bikes down the road, he can’t help but look over at Spinelli’s house. She’s changed a lot, not that he sees her enough. She’s pierced her lip and wears dark colors. She’s got a new friend group with CJ, Lily, Megan, Judy, and Butch. Lola is zoned to a different high school, so they cut ties last year.

Spinelli watches Jasper drive past her house from her living room. She no longer wears her beanie or her hair in pigtails. Her dad is away more often, and her mom is concerned for her. She knows this before words are spoken aloud. Spinelli waits until Jasper is down another stretch before she takes a suburban shortcut. In doing so, she wonders about her friends. _Will they be coming to school on the first day?_

When she arrives at the school, a surge of irritation tingles down her spine at the sight of Randall. All through elementary school, he tried to one-up the gang and make them miserable. Now, there is no gang, and he has friends. Randall stands to the side of the main staircase into the front entrance of the school. The blonde who hung upside-down like a bat through her years of primary school is eagerly chatting about joining clubs this year.

“I figure with my history of gymnastics, I should try out for cheerleading.”

“That’s great, Pheebs.” Her other redheaded friend grins.

The Third Street School’s record-winning swinger is on the ground. Her outwear hasn’t changed much, but she no longer wears her aviator hat and goggles.

“I’m thinking of switching from softball to rugby.” Phoebe gives her, Francesca, a thumbs-up approval rating, and the latter nods to the others. “What about you boys? Sports? Clubs?”

“I feel like journalism would be an excellent choice,” Menlo nods with a soft smirk.

Randall shrugs to the side. “All of you know exactly where you want to be, but I don’t fit in anywhere. I never have.”

Menlo throws a hesitant arm around his friend’s shoulder. “Hey, now. You fit in with us. You don’t _need_ to join a club.”

“We could _make_ a club!” Phoebe claps her hands. “Like, just hang out at my place. Order takeout, play video games.”

Francesca raises an eyebrow. “So, just do what we did this summer and call it a club?”

“Exactly!”

“Sounds perfectly logical.” Menlo nods. “I’m in.”

“I’m in, too.” Randall smiles.

“Oh, I am so in.”

“And it’s official. And the first meeting will be today. At, like, four-thirty. Because cheer tryouts are first on the list.”

Timmy Milton walks over as the girls separate from the boys.

“Did you do my summer reading?”

“Do you have the appropriate monetary compensation?” Randall stands in front of his friend, arms crossed.

Timmy forks over an agreed-upon amount, and Randall sneakily counts it. He nods to Menlo, who hands over a summer reading report in a floppy folder. Randall hands it to the kid.

“B-average work. Pleasure doing business, Milton.”

It’s a lucrative job, and Randall is proud that Menlo asked for his help last year. It really strengthened their friendship. The boys walk side by side down the main hall, shoulders softly bumping into each other. They pass by two Ashleys – Armbruster and Tomassian – who sneer at them. Ashley A is the biggest bitch in their class, and Ashley T is showing her more intelligent side.

The boys ignore the girls’ taunts, and they walk past HK (formerly Hustler Kid), as he tries to sell vending machine items and cigarette to the students. A few hockey teammates – Vance, Mickey, Gelman, and Robert (formerly King Bob) – swagger down the next hall. Mickey almost trips over Menlo, and Robert scowls. He’s the oldest on the team, a junior.

“What the hell are you doing, nerdling?”

Menlo glares back, unafraid of the height different. Perhaps he _should_ be afraid. Gelman grabs the front of his shirt and harshly thrusts him against a nearby locker.

“Apologize, faggot.”

Energy surges in Randall as he grabs the satchel from his shoulder. There are three textbooks inside from open house, and Randall swings the bag at Gelman’s head. He misses, however, and sacks his shoulder.

“Tryna save your _boyfriend_ , snitch?”

“Let him go, Dipshit!” Randall scowls.

Gelman laughs it off. He shoves Randall to the floor and suckerpunches Menlo in the stomach. Robert leans against the lockers and laughs while Vance and Mickey join in. Mickey easily holds Randall back, and Vance pins Menlo down so Gelman can whale on the smaller boy. Struggling in the hockey player’s grip, Randall looks around wildly for someone to help. Ashley B passes them without a glance.

She’s not much of a threat, but she’s listening to her iPod. A raven-haired military-type walks by. He’s got a lip piercing and look like he’s got somewhere to be. Plus, Randall has never seen him before. He catches Lawson laughing about some unheard joke with Dave and his girlfriend Ashley Q. The latter briefly acknowledges the bullies, but they don’t stick around. Mickey bares down on Randall’s arms, and he can feel them losing circulation when he matches the gaze of Mister Here for the People.

TJ doesn’t do anything, though. He’s Jasper now, and Jasper holds his gaze long enough to watch Menlo’s nose bleeding over Gelman’s fist, and Randall is suddenly seeing spots when an aggressive kick launches at his face. Jasper’s eyes fall to his feet, and Mickey shoves Randall face first into the linoleum. Randall cracks his eye open to identify his attacker: another hockey player, sophomore Mundy. First bell rings, and Randall slowly crawls over the lockers.

“Great first day, huh?”

Menlo stares back in annoyance, though it quickly fades when he notices the bad marks on his friend. He reaches into his bag and pulls out some tissues for each of them.

“We’re going to be late for class.”

_We were almost pummeled into our graves._ “They’ll go easy on us, right? It’s the first week.”


End file.
